Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-12-03
THE ERA OF SLANG.
EXPRESSIONS WHICH SEND THE
 cReEPs UP A PURIsT's BACK.

Words Eor which No Possible EIouse Con De OTered-Even tho Fair Sea Ha-e Caught Che Lnfcottoo--BehttiinS' Not DesutifSinS-
 The era of slana fs upon us Vltn Q breadth that is almost appalling NOs wholly the slang that might be defined as the burlesque or collOquial form Of e&- preston, the language of low hunor, or the jar-un of thieves and v0Srants, but species that L5 almost a5 reprehensiote- It will not do to apologize for 1t by say ing that ''slGng is probably as old as human specch, |" and that the early writers indulged fin it, especially the Greek and Roman dramatists, and while We may speak and wrire against the peEniciOus habit, ,-e suspect tdG1 Sc will not grow disg1Ited enough with it to thoroughly uUrnot it until 1t has reached fts cIiIra Ths vu-.t fact about it i5 that II Is hOt confined to ttse LcT and the initerate, but has iIIvaded the pubic schools cultured society and the literature of our books. . admit that some Of che slang expressions are forcible and full of GdequateneSs1 among which I might naIne Hired out, .'oolOssal check" etc. Stln even they 0urht tO bc tsbOoed
 Bus what excuse can possibly be offerel Tor s,ch words as "gailoot, ' '1sardiDe, '" 'Nchump,r % kicker" |" ''kid, " etc.S Or such expressions Ss ''Iet her go, Gallagher, ''Waltaad off on his ear, 'I should snicker," "SUSr yUu're shOutin'," etc They are scarcely emphatic and certainly not polite Even the fair sex have caught the infection and speak sbout his royal nihs, r or the ''hOwiing swell V the girl of today ts ready tO ''bet her bottom dollaI, " wants tO know ''v-hGt you're gtvtn' her, lets you know that you are ''oH youf basel and insists that you shall "cOfns off '' 'svamOs-e ' ''skedaddle, !" ''absquatu- Iate. |" aud all that. You do her Q slight tavor and she exclainls, ''Oh, thanks, aw- tuliyr' Why she should thank you with reverend fear'' ts beyond your cOmpre- hensson- Ask her to sing yOar favorite sentimental ballad and she will probably say, '-Oh. really, Mir. -. cawn't It's too utterly, tOO-tOor'
 WASTED SYMPATHY.
 While playing lawn tennis with hes she suddenly cries out, '-Oh you've given me such q twist" You feel exceedingly alarmed; you are elYGid thas her eollar bone is broken or tbGt at least her wris' aas been dislOcated. You discover, how ever, that it Is but tennis slang and that yonT sympathy hos been wasted. She cOnhdently tells yOa thaS Jennie Some body 6 'inO gOOd6 and bad the ''cheek" so pPOpose to 'hstratcf'' her st tho meet inG of the club, because she hadn't ''fOrkad Over'' the ''spOndoolicks fos the ksst quarter All tbdt ts tO be depTe- cated, but tise gtrls, heeven bfSS them, look 20 pretty, md use the tertDs eO art IcSsiy, that l b6ven't thc bes,Ft to bo sI- were fn my repFOoL
 It isn't pioaSCnt s 10 Ocooetcd hy oSsehs tyesr-Ofd hopeful as ''an old EuOose-" Ox Co know thlt he f. lvfng tn wait tO knock the sJuftfus '" Out Of a neighbours boy, or Co ''vipe rp the floOr'' with him- Or tO heor our sbOFt skirted but high spirited daughter u tho afoFesoid brother that she wishes the other boy would paste him On tSre snOOt, or knock him clean OCt the Soz1 os 'fnto the IliGllc of next week" I don't know that am es- pec.slly sonstive, and yet I must say that such eEpFesst0Es seDd the creeps up ms back
 The e,fttor ''sv'fngs 9 nasty Qrili," the | hire-i girl is 6 pot rastkeF;' when thing 1 suits us it's '1ISt tho cheoSe;n when too | noisy u9e are told to .@ury pp9 or to 'Nus- 1
 
 say, 'IiOs ii the court knows itseif;'' fl | one day Is not sRailtsbls 7s'mother oDe' ts; when veo dse vSe 'pGss fn our checks,' ave "put OEFay on be" aZsd are finally | planted" |" so rlissht go on sd minimum | You can think, I RS2 eure, of st least | hundred words cod rhgeses tO vhlch I | haVe made TO pehereDco For tnventin1 | cute words and phrases our country lead, | the procession Tbey Bra ClevcE and ep- I proprtate, get lnao tNe topical song, tho ! public batch u-h" and they live and | thrive, G5Sd In many inztences the dictiOn- !. arr finally k-,tlrriSes them.
 Slang, l trsSs, hs the fcngrHs ou the 1 stln It ts Oos the g-egtcd fruit It is | the scum oI lasEgunce ft OfJen belittles; | IS Dsver necUtlGcS If vy ell spoke and { WrOte tl D LcsS eZaggyrsted UauneR ve ] would ne hss exaggerated in ocr ways of life end tbOughA Ltfa> as well es speech, would perhaps grow more si1BDle, InOre | ,rue, more worth hvtDS--'ObSeEveE' t. Cil